Costa Rica Day 6

It's Friday! The trip is almost over! I can't believe how fast it was going. We start the day at 6, which has been pretty normal for me since I've been birding so much, but was still pretty early. We went to our guide's family's dairy farm. I milked a cow. They had so many little calfs! We took a walk around the property and saw the small coffee crop they grow and learned about dairy farming practicing in the country.
Back to the cabins for breakfast (french toast, fruit). We took a walk around the cabins, which our guides own. We went to his gardens, where he grows vegetables hydroponically. We gathered carrots, and hacked down a sugar cane. We walked through the woods and had to run through a fire ant nest. We juiced the sugar cane in this interesting old press. It was hard, but a whole lot of fun. We had a little free time to hang out on the hammocks, and then lunch at the cabins.
We went on a tour of a coffee plantation. The plantation grows organic coffee. The plantation was full of fruit trees. Apparently the fruit trees will feed animals that will wander onto the plantation so they don't eat the coffee beans, which is interesting. They served us coffee and sweet corn cakes. I only drank a little of it, because coffee hurts my stomach, but it was very tasty.
We headed over to the Monteverde Institute and had a little free time. A group of us wandered to a Woman's Coop nearby where they sell locally made crafts. I got a whole bunch of chocolate to bring back as souvenirs. We received a lecture on Bats. The lecturer emphasized the importance of bats to the ecosystem and all the difficulties they face. Then we went into the forest to catch bats! It was incredibly cool. They set up mist nets around us. If a bat runs into a net, they fall into soft little pockets and need assistance to get out. It doesn't hurt them, just softly catches them. We caught a bunch of varieties. We caught two pregnant bats too! Some of the bats were very docile and agreed to being held and showed off. Some of the other one were aggressive and gnawed violently on the guides gloves. The bats weren't hurt, but they were stretched out so we could see and feel the wings and we were given a little anatomy lesson. Then the bats were released and flew right away to go catch more food.
We got dinner at the cabins, and hung out, talking on the porch for the rest of the night.